Preview

Free

Vegetable garden; welcomes volunteers to garden together. Also family-friendly. Work-days last Sunday of the month.
"Everyone is welcome to community land workdays. Forthcoming workdays: Last Sunday of the month, starting at 10.30 am. The garden has a ‘drop in’ every Thursday, and people are welcome to come along to garden, share knowledge and skills and good company."

accessed via Manse garden.
Beautiful garden for anyone to visit, free; welcomes volunteers; occasional events.
"Dr Neil’s Garden is so much more than a garden. It is a friendly place that welcomes all to its peace and beauty and at the same time offers comradeship and training to volunteers. The Garden stimulates change through play, learning, the arts, healthy activity, and by addressing the special needs of people. It is open to all, free of charge 7 days a week."

The Welcoming supports newcomers to Edinburgh, providing a wide range of classes and activities, 6 days a week, 50 weeks of the year.
• English language classes at all levels
• Advice and information on everyday living in Edinburgh
• Weekly Conversation Cafe
• Employability support
• Visits out and about to get to know Edinburgh and meet new people
• Home energy advice - find out how to keep cosy at an affordable price at home
• Digital skills
• Befriending opportunities
• Creative arts and health and well-being activities
Everything is free of charge and drop in! Visit www.thewelcoming.org to access the timetable and find latest details of what's on.

Just as many people born and brought up in the United Kingdom might struggle to answer many of the questions set in the UK Citizenship Test, so it is possible to live in a city for years and be quite unaware of all sorts of interesting things about it.
Using this resource, new arrivals of all sorts can enjoy amazing and bemusing the natives with their knowledge of arcane bits of Edinburgh's history!

“Our aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Edinburgh through providing opportunities to participate in community growing activities.”
Allotments are involved!
The project is also open to anyone who wants to get involved, and share in the experience of growing, cooking and eating healthy food in the great outdoors.

"This unpretentious little park has been one of Portobello's pleasures for many years. Lined by elm, whitebeam, holly and hawthorn, it is a quiet place for a stroll, or a chat."
Friendly dog walkers; people sitting on blankets in the sun; toddlers having a picnic. All amidst nice herbaceous border flower beds. And only a hundred yards from the beach, if the breeze there turns a bit chilly.

"It is fair to think of Princes Street Gardens as the punctuation mark that divides Edinburgh's Old Town from its New Town and this helps give the Gardens its role as an integral part of the underlying structure of the city. This is no afterthought city park added on for a bit of greenery: in a very real sense Princes Street Gardens is the beating heart of Edinburgh, offering opportunities for relaxation and recreation, and forming the frame for the iconic views of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street."

"A social enterprise seeking to encourage, support and promote the creative skills of Craigmillar residents, through the running of arts workshops, plays and community concerts, and by providing a venue for exhibitions and touring productions. Run with the help of many volunteers, the organisation also promotes the annual Craigmillar Community Festival."

"Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees is a project which seeks to co-ordinate and promote action by faith communities in Scotland to support asylum seekers and refugees...In September 2015 the Church of Scotland resolved to establish a refugee co-ordination project as a response to the situation and a way to harness the outpouring of goodwill and desire to act which was being expressed by many congregations across the country. The Church of Scotland then approached the other major faith groups in Scotland, who have agreed to share in the work of co-ordination and support.
We are working with Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Interfaith groups, and through our commitment to each other seek to demonstrate that building on common values by acting in partnership we have our own story to tell of hospitality and welcome."
Edinburgh Weekend Club (Once a month, across the city; fun events and activities; meeting people, making friends; practice English; learn about Scottish culture & history; day trips)
The “Edinburgh Weekend Club” is a new joint-faith initiative run by Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees. With the aim of enabling New Scots to become active members of society through the building of strong social relationships, as well as combating social isolation experienced particularly over the weekend, a joint-faith group of volunteers organises monthly weekend events. Participants have the opportunity to build friendships, improve their English in a relaxed and welcoming environment, as well as learn more about Scottish culture and history.
Past events have included a Burns Night and Ceilidh, Dalkeith Country Park fun, and a visit to Edinburgh Castle. All gatherings and events are only possible through the generous help of our local Edinburgh community. If your local faith community would like to contribute to such an event in future or if you would like to find out more please get in touch with Sabine Chalmers schalmers@churchofscotland.org.uk. You might want to offer us a venue space or even make a financial contribution towards this project of welcome.
If you are seeking sanctuary in Edinburgh and would like to participate please contact Sabine for information on the next event.

"A garden where volunteers from the wider community work together to gain gardening skills, life skills, increase their social networks and access fresh food.This fresh food is also used in Fresh Start’s cooking classes which are run for clients. The space has several beds, raised beds and fruit bushes, and is generating lots of fresh produce."

Can you beat Netmums' description?!
"For a variety of indoor and outdoor fun, most of which is free, you can't beat Portobello Promenade. On sunny days the kids can play on the beach, the toddlers park or the swing park, all within a few minutes walk of each other along the prom. For eats and treats the traditional fish-and-chips or ice-cream are available, or there are a number of child-friendly cafes, pubs and hotels along the prom - including the 'Espy' with its gigantic portions of fresh tasty fare.
There's a host of sporting fun along the Prom too including the new sailing school. And if the weather's not so good you can take your swimming indoors at the Swim Centre, bowl at the bowling centre or simply spend some loose change having fun in the seaside arcades."
Well it doesn't mention the volleyball (it's always pleasant to watch other people taking exercise!), right next to the excellent Little Green Van coffee stall.
Almost any day of the year, you can meet people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds enjoying the fresh air and sea breezes.

"This unpretentious little park has been one of Portobello's pleasures for many years. Lined by elm, whitebeam, holly and hawthorn, it is a quiet place for a stroll, or a chat."
Friendly dog walkers; people sitting on blankets in the sun; toddlers having a picnic. All amidst nice herbaceous border flower beds. And only a hundred yards from the beach, if the breeze there turns a bit chilly.

"With its distinctive burn running through the park, pond and animated wildlife, the Figgate Park provides an attractive green space in the heart of Edinburgh's East Neighbourhood. Its many entrances are commonly used by local walkers, joggers and cyclists as a convenient access to areas between Duddingston and Portobello. The pond, with a boardwalk and wide variety of waterfowl is the main attraction, but a children's play area, teen area and even a pictorial wildflower meadow, ensure there is lots to see and do in the park. The park has been awarded a Green Flag since 2010, in recognition of it being a quality greenspace.""
Facilities: Play area; Teenage area; Board walk; Picnic tables ; Seating.

[Spring 2017] "Since we began our work for refugees in Edinburgh, with the support of, and information from, the team at The Welcoming organisation, we have been able to supply electric heaters, cooking pots, tea pots and duvets and covers, pillows and pillowcases.
We still have more to supply and hope to have completed what is needed by the beginning of March.
The next stage of our project is to take groups of refugees on Edinburgh tour buses to see the city and then bring them back to St Giles’ for food and to socialise with us and to practise their conversational English. This will need more funds and we applied to Police Scotland’s fund to counteract Islamophobia."

"We organise and run weekly shared reading sessions for adults in the community, young adults in community programmes and the elderly in Scotland. Part of a book and a poem are read aloud during these relaxed and informal sessions, with an Open Book Lead Reader on hand to help guide the discussion. We also regularly run creative writing sessions for our readers, using the material the group is reading as inspiration to create new writing. We also arrange and fund visits by these groups to the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August, linking the authors we see on the visit to the reading materials we use in our sessions. In 2015 and 2016, Open Book also presented three shared reading sessions for the public at the Edinburgh International Book Festival as a part of their workshop programme."